The project promoted by IBBY Italia in conjunction with IBBY International and with the Palazzo delle Esposizioni's Educational Services - Art Bookshop in Rome, first got off the ground in 2012 with the aim of putting together a selection of the best silent books published throughout the world and of building a library for the boys and girls of Lampedusa. The creation of a public library on the island is highly symbolic because Lampedusa represents every remote, border area on the planet and this project also wishes to provide an opportunity to draw the institutions' and civil society's attention to the needs of those growing up without access to reading or to the principles of respect for, and understanding of, others that reading is capable of stimulating.
The choice of the core of children's books that IBBY Italia has chosen to put together and to donate to the island of Lampedusa comprises a collection of silent books, in other words books with no text that rely on illustrations alone to tell their tale, thus successfully eliminating all linguistic and cultural barriers. The project, now in its third edition, has led to date to the collection of over 250 silent books from five continents in the island's library and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni's Art Bookshelf for the use of researchers, teachers and enthusiasts. The collection is also a travelling book show that can be booked for display either in Italy or abroad.
For each edition of the exhibition, an international jury of critics, illustrators, librarians and booksellers has put together, from all the books submitted, a special honours list of works that are exemplary in terms of their originality, their complexity, their historical value or the issues they address.
The travelling exhibition is curated by the Palazzo delle Esposizioni's Educational Services - Art Bookshop on a two-yearly basis, travelling all over the world with its luggage filled with stories. It lands simultaneously at Lampedusa (16 September>29 October) and at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, invading the Spazio Fontana and spilling over into the Forum on the lower-ground floor, to talk about books, education and rights, taking its symbolic cue from the heart of the Mediterranean. This year the exhibition will be kicking off on 3 October, the Day of Memory and Welcome established to commemorate all the victims of immigration, and will be showcasing not only the books from the latest edition but also the honours lists from previous editions and a selection of original illustrations for posters in the competition entitled "A Library in the Heart of the Mediterranean" launched by IBBY Italia and won by illustrator Cecilia Campironi. The exhibition will be further enriched with a special layout allowing visitors to listen to the multiple voices and stories enshrined in these special books, which do not define or dictate a dominant viewpoint but allow readers' eyes to roam freely over the pages in search of endless interpretations and details.
The exhibition is completed by a rich programme of workshops for schools and families, and of training courses for teachers, professionals and experts in the field.
The pdf file of the honour list can be downloaded here